The Letter
by Kayle Pyrane
Summary: Hermione finds a letter addressed to her...just a one shot...enjoy


A/N: This is a one-shot. No betas...just spell check and a once over. Enjoy

**Dear Hermione**

_**You.**_

You haunt my dreams and my every waking moment. I close my eyes and all I see is your face. These feelings...these feelings scare me. It's forbidden. It's frightening, knowing how much trouble I can get into just by thinking these things. You grazed by me today, not even noticing my presences. I smelled the scent of oranges and vanilla. You always smell like that. I watched you in the dining hall, arguing with your friends. You have such a flair for arguing. I've seen it in action...been at the receiving end of your wrath. You're even more beautiful when you're angry. When you calmed down, I saw you run your hand through your hair. You are so self-conscience and I don't understand why. Don't you know how amazing you are? Your eyes are wise beyond your years. Your smile brightens up any room you walk into. Don't you notice they way the boys from your house and the other three houses (yes, including the Slytherin's) watch you as you walk in? You're oblivious to this because you've been teased for so long. It pains me to think people have made you believe you aren't the beautiful woman you are. 17-years-old. Not yet a woman is it? You haven't fully matured and when you do, men will flock to you. I'm falling in love with you and you don't even know it. Maybe, someday, you will... and maybe something can come of it...I guess only time will tell.

_**Always,**_

_**Yours**_

_**June 2000**_

22-year-old Hermione Granger sat down on the steps of Hogwarts, trying to catch her breath. It was written around the time she'd graduated from the school she was now teaching at. Her hands shook. Class was going to be starting in a week. This was her first year of teaching the History of Magic. She had been in her room cleaning out the desk that was in there when she came across the letter. It was addressed to her and she thought that maybe Harry or Ron and slipped a good luck note when she wasn't looking. She had inserted it inside her journal and then took her journal outside to write. Hermione was definitely not prepared for what she read.

It had taken Hermione five years to get rid of all her insecurities. She was finally comfortable with her body and her personality. She knew now that she was a relatively attractive woman, though she'd only had two boyfriends. The first being Viktor Krum her fourth year. He had broken up with her that summer, after finding a warm spot in the arms of a girl named Fleur. Then there was Ron, whom she loved with all her heart. But a few months into their relationship their sixth year, they realized that they were better of friends. Since then she'd been alone. During the day, this wasn't so bad. She was normally so caught up in reading or writing or just something that keeps her busy that she doesn't really do much thinking about her loneliness but at night, she wanted so badly to fall asleep in someone's arms. It didn't help that her four best friends were all married either. Hermione sighed and refolded the letter. Right after Ginny and Luna's seventh year at Hogwarts, Harry and Ron proposed. Harry and Ginny married less than a year later while Ron and Luna waited almost a year and a half. Currently, both couples are eagerly awaiting their first child. She took the job at Hogwarts, not just because she enjoyed the idea of teaching but also because she needed to get away from the lovey-dovey couples. She loved the four of them to death but her position as a fifth wheel, just wasn't working out.

Hermione unfolded the letter again and read it once more. She was so engrossed; she didn't her the footsteps behind her.

"I wrote that letter during class one afternoon. I was supposed to be grading papers."

She spun around and was left speechless. Standing there was the man she had a crush on since she was 16-years-old. Was it possible he shared her feelings?

He sat down next to her and took the letter from her still fingers. He smiled as he read the words he'd written so many years ago. Folding it back up, he looked at her and smiled again. He wiped away a solitary tear that fell down her cheek.

"The letter certainly wasn't supposed to make you cry."

"I-I...why didn't you say something? We were together nearly all the time. Do you know how much torture I went through working with you so closely and thinking the whole time that you just saw me as a child instead of a woman who was in love with you? Sure, we carried on adult conversations but..."

Hermione stopped, realizing what she just said and that he was just staring at her with a grin on his beautiful face.

"Do you mean it?"

A blush crept up her neck and onto her already rosy cheeks. She nodded.

"I've been in love with you since I was 16, Severus."

He put his arm around her shoulders and kissed the top of her head.

"Then we shall see where this goes, Hermione."


End file.
